


Walk on Water

by PotatoSlayer



Category: Free!
Genre: Drama, F/M, Fanservice, Original Character(s), Romance, Swimming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-20 06:26:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20670797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoSlayer/pseuds/PotatoSlayer
Summary: Years ago, Haru's best friend vanished without a trace or a word.  When she suddenly shows back up into his life with no explanation, no answers, and an uncanny way of twisting every conversation into something sexual, he's not sure what to make of it, but he knows one thing.  He doesn't want her to disappear again.  But when she starts to unravel the mysteries of her life, is he prepared for the adventure that awaits?





	1. Uniform

The rain was pouring down harder than it had in a long time. The sky was black except for the strike of lightning every now and then that would spread gray through the clouds above the rooftops. A faint whistle could be heard as the trees bent sideways with the wind.

Haru sipped at his cup of tea as he watched out the window. Somehow the patter of rain against the glass was calming on the stormy night. 

There was a banging on his door that made him jump. He wasn’t expecting  company so he was confused on who it could be.

Hesitantly he made his way to the door and opened it.

A woman draped in a thick, soaking wet blanket was on her knees, her hand resting on the wall from where it slid down from the door. She tipped her head up, her red eyes glowing in the nighttime.

Haru’s eyes widened.

Jules was laying on her stomach on the bed, flipping through a magazine she had found by the front door. It was a swimming sports magazine. Though she didn’t care too much about what was in it, it was something for her to do for a while.

Haru came back in the room and dropped a pile of blankets on her. She grumbled and looked up at him but didn’t move. She asked, “What are you doing up so early?”

“I’m  gonna take a bath.” He answered simply, walking over to the closet.

“Okay but why at... 5am? The sun isn’t even up.”

Haru pulled his swimsuit out of the closet and looked up with a sigh. “Makoto text me last night and scolded me for not going to school on the first day. I figure he’ll probably be here bright and early to make sure I go today.”

“School?” Jules repeated.

Haru gave her a long look as though trying to process her question. He had eyes as blue as the ocean and whenever he looked at her like that, it made her heart race in her chest. She had never seen a person as beautiful as him before and every expression reminded her of that.

He sighed, “Not even schools where you’re from, huh? It’s no big deal. I’m supposed to go on a daily basis to learn things for my future. It’s not my favorite place to be but Makoto will go out of his way to make sure I’m there so I may as well enjoy what I can before he shows up.”

Jules hopped off the bed and walked over to him, draping herself on the back of his shoulders. “Oh?  So you’re going to be gone all day? Then I’ll join you in the bath and make the most of our time together.”

Haru gave her a bored look. “ No you won’t. You’ll stay in this room and out of sight. I don’t want to explain to Makoto why you’re living here.”

Jules pouted. “You’re no fun, Haruka...”

He sighed. “Don’t call me that either,  Juli . It’s just Haru. You know that.”

“Sorry it slipped.” She teased him but pouted when he walked away with his suit. She gasped, “ You’e going to bathe in your swimsuit again?  Harruuu ...”

She gave him his space just as he asked, but it wasn’t too much later that she heard the front door open and someone call out several times. She jumped to the side of the door, ready to hide if  needbe but the person trotted by without paying any attention – much like they had come through this house several times already.

For a bit she could hear them talking but she occupied herself with reading the magazine and staying out of sight like she was supposed to. When she heard footsteps come back up and the door opened, she dove into the closet and hid.

Haru glanced around, “Juli.”

She poked her head out.

He sighed as he grabbed his uniform and started changing. “I’m getting ready to head out. There should be enough food in the fridge for you today. Try not to get yourself into any trouble okay?”

Jules frowned. “How long are you going to be gone?”

His gaze softened a bit. “School goes for most of the day. I should be back home around 3 this afternoon.”

“That’s so long...”  Juli whined.

He offered her a soft smile and patted the top of her head. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“And you’ll be doing this every day now?” She insisted.

He looked away. “Most days. I  gotta hurry.” He awkwardly rushed through putting his tie on before joining Makoto and heading to school. He glanced back a couple times, wondering if Jules was really going to be okay at home alone.

Jules sighed as she wandered the house alone for a bit, but it didn’t take long before she was losing her mind. The last thing she was used to was captivity. After a couple hours, she poked her head out the front door and looked around. No one saw her so she decided to carry on. She wanted to find this ‘school’ that Haru was going to.

Eventually she stumbled upon a couple people that were wearing a uniform similar to what Haru had put on that morning. As stealthy as possible, she followed where they want, eventually coming to a large building. It only took her walking in a few feet to realize that if she didn’t find a uniform to put on, she was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

She found a couple girls who were talking in the hall and tapped one of them on the shoulder. She turned and looked her up and down, her eyes a bit wide. Jules asked, “Where do I get my uniform?”

The girl laughed, her amber eyes shimmering playfully. “You didn’t buy it ahead of time? What a procrastinator. I think there’s some extra uniforms in the faculty office right over there.” She pointed down the hall. Once Jules trotted off, the girl turned back to her friend. “Who doesn’t have their uniform by day one?”

The girl next to her had short black hair with blue and white eyes. They were following Jules every footstep. “Someone who doesn’t care about school or doesn’t know the first thing about it.”

“True that.”

Jules pushed open the door to the room and smiled when she saw a crate of uniforms. She shuffled through them for a bit before she found ones that looked like they’d fit. Changing into them, she looked at herself in the mirror of the empty room. Her thick wavy black hair was spilling around her shoulders and her red eyes were shimmering.

The uniform wasn’t all that flattering, but she had enough of a chest to make it look alright – plus the skirt was kind of short so it showed off her thighs.

Her smile widened and she winked at herself in the mirror. “Oh yeah. I bet I can seduce  Haruka with this!”

But now was the challenging part – finding where Haru was. It wasn’t helpful that everyone was wandering around in similar outfits, but she knew her little dolphin would stand out like a sore thumb.  However it wasn’t him she noticed first. She happened to see a bob of curly yellow hair run by and there was no mistaking who it belonged to.

Following him, he eventually reached the bottom of a set of stairs and shouted, “Makoto!  Haruka ! There you are!”

Jules’ eyes widened. He’d found him already!

Makoto and Haru walked down the steps and met him there while Makoto asked, “Nagisa? What are you doing here?”

Nagisa grinned and jumped up and down. “We finally get to go to school together, I’m so excited! How have you been?”

“Good.” Mako stated, a light chuckle in his voice. “Wow Nagisa you’ve changed so much.”

He stuck his tongue out. “Aw shucks. I didn’t - “

Jules made a noise when someone ran into her from behind and caused her to stumble out from behind a pillar. She rubbed her hip and grumbled at the guy who apologized before taking off with his friend.

Haru’s eyes widened.

Nagisa gasped, “Whoa, hey Jules, is that you? It’s fate!”

Makoto smiled. “Jules, hey. I didn’t know you’d be transferring here, too. What a surprise, right Haru?”

Haru’s brows furrowed a bit. “Yeah, a real surprise.”

Jules waved her hands. “Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you guys. I’m taller than you now, Nagisa.”

Nagisa puffed his cheeks. “You don’t have to say it like that!”

Jules laughed.

Makoto smiled. “Why don’t we all eat lunch together and catch up?”

“Yeah, great idea!” Nagisa confirmed.

Jules smiled until she got a look at the glare on Haru’s face and then she frowned. She’d really messed up  big time.

Haru sighed as he leaned his chin into his hand and his elbow on the little table. “Where did you even get the uniform, Juli?”

Juli stabbed her chopstick into another bite of  food.  “Faculty office...”

He sighed. “Do you understand the headache this is going to be? They’re going to be expecting to see you at school now. We have to play that off without them learning that you’re living here. If Makoto finds out, it’ll be a matter of time before my parents catch wind and then we’re screwed. He’s a great guy but he can’t lie.”

She pouted and looked away. “Sorry...”

He watched her a moment before his gaze softened and he shook his head. He reached over and rubbed the top of her head like he was petting a kitten. “Relax... I’m not mad. I’m not sure how to deal with the situation yet but we’ll figure it out. I just don’t want you getting forced out.” He looked down and whispered, “I don’t want you to disappear again.”

She looked back up at him, her crimson eyes saddening before she scooted around to his side of the table and nuzzling up against his arm. “I won’t, Haru. I swear... I’m never leaving again.”

“Even if the worst happens?” He asked worriedly.

“Even then.”  Juli agreed. “I’ll figure out a way to get my own place and stay close. But... just so you know... I didn’t want to leave the first time, either.”

Haru’s eyes widened a bit.

She buried her head into his shoulder and whispered, “I just want to be where you are.”

His eyes shimmered like water in the sunlight and he gave her an affectionate smile before kissing the top of her head. “To do that, it means you need to start cooperating with me. If I tell you to stay home and out of sight, I mean it. Okay?”

“But I missed you, Haru!” She whined.

He sighed and gave her another bored, scolding look. “You’ve got to learn to manage to be away for more than a couple hours. There will be other situations like that come up.”

“But why does there have to be?” She asked.

He sighed. “Because you showed up out of the blue three months ago and won’t tell me a thing about where you’ve been the last four years, what happened, or why you’re homeless now. Or what made you disappear that first time. So since you won’t give me those answers, we have to keep you out of sight as much as possible.”

She huffed. “I guess that’s fair.” She pressed her face more into his sleeve and asked, “Can I wear one of your hoodies?”

He grumbled with how casually she changed the subject but that was just like her. He shoved a bite of his food into his mouth and growled, “Of course you can.”

“Can I wear just your hoodie?” She giggled.

His brow twitched. “Only if you stay in your own room.”

“My room is your room.”

He pointed the chopsticks at her. “Just cause you refuse to sleep anywhere but my room doesn’t make it yours. Your room is the guest room even if you won’t sleep there.”

She pouted. “Well you’re not in there.”

He sighed again. “Yeah that’s the point. Most guests sleep in their own room. It’s not normal to just show up at a  strangers place and expect to sleep in the same bed as them.”

“You’re not a stranger.”  Juli argued. “We knew each other as kids.”

He rubbed his hand through his hair and sighed. “But we’re not kids anymore. We’ve both... grown up.”

She frowned. “Does it bother you that much for me to sleep in your bed?”

He blinked and looked at her. He could tell by her expression that if he said yes, she’d let him be. But he knew that wasn’t what he wanted. There was too much comfort in having her in the same bed as him again. 

But he couldn’t just outright tell her that.

He looked away and answered, “It doesn’t bother me. No sense in changing anything now.”

She smiled and hugged herself right back up to him. “Thank you, Haruka!”

“It’s Haru. Come on.”


	2. Waterfall

It felt like the sky was falling down on  Juli’s head. The stars above her became a tangled mess and revealed that they were just a reflection. She reached up and touched the surface of the pool of water above her. Suddenly a thousand pounds of water came flooding down over her. She kept trying to gasp for air but she couldn’t get anything. Her arms and legs flailed.

She was going to die here.

Juli suddenly shot up in bed, her eyes wide and sweat causing her hair and clothes to stick to her skin. She panted for several long minutes before she slowly looked down beside her. Haru was asleep with his back to her, curled around his pillow. She pressed her hand to her face and panted into it.

The nightmares were coming more and  more frequently now.

Slowly she climbed out of bed, being careful not to disturb Haru. She shifted her  tanktop and shorts and twisted her hair up into a messy bun before she left the room.

A glass of water and two sleep aids later, she found herself out back, staring up at the shimmering night sky. The moon was full and cast the normally black night into a gentle blue hue. It reminded her of her dream and how everything felt like water. Her red eyes saddened as the voices she heard in her dream echoed around her head.

“ _ You will never belong anywhere.” _

_ “You’re a mistake I never should have made.” _

Juli pressed her face into her hands. She shook her head several times to try and get everything out of her mind, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t distract herself.

“Are you okay, Jules?”

Juli’s eyes widened when she heard the soft voice behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see his gentle, concerned expression trained on her. He was in the same hoodie he had fallen asleep in last night and as per usual, she was in one of his as well.

He sat down beside her as she whispered, “Sorry, I woke you, didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t.” He assured. “I woke up on my own, realized you weren’t in bed.”

Juli looked down.

He asked, “Was it another nightmare?”

More sadness filled her beautiful red gaze before she slowly lifted it back to meet his perfect blue orbs. “Yeah. They’re... becoming more frequent now.” She pushed her hair back out of her face. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I assume you still don’t want to talk about it?” Haru asked.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I know you want answers and I want to give them to you. Really, I do. But...I can’t. For now... just take me as my weirdo self. The bizarre person who doesn’t know anything about this world...who... only trusts you.”

Haru’s eyes widened a bit before he scooted closer to her. When he did, she leaned the other way, onto his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her waist. He tucked her into himself and sighed, “I do. You’re definitely an odd one, but... that doesn’t matter to me.”

“Thanks, Haruka...”

He glared at her. “Stop calling me that.”

“Then let’s sleep naked.”

“Hell no!” He barked down at her.

Juli came to a stop on the rooftop, looking out through the trees at the rundown pool next door to the classroom building. There were weeds growing up all over it – like it had been years since it was used. Her gaze softened as she thought about the conversation that had at lunch the day before.

_ Nagisa was bouncing where he sat. All four of them were sitting in a circle on the rooftop, facing each other. He shrieked, “Seriously what are the chances we’d all be back here!? It has to be fate!” _

_ Haru glared at him in a bored manner. “It’s not  _ _ fate _ _ .” _

_ “How else do you explain  _ _ it, _ _ Haru!?” Nagisa whined. _

_ Juli _ _ didn’t miss the look Haru shot her and she blushed and looked away. _

_ Makoto fanned his chopsticks. “Just think about it logically, Nagisa. This is your first year of high school. You transferred here because it was time for you to transfer. And Jules... well, how  _ ** _ did _ ** _ you wind up here, Jules?” _

_ She shrugged her shoulders. “My family moves a lot. We chose here as our next stop because we’d been here before. We were familiar with it.” _

_ “See.” Makoto smiled at Nagisa. “It’s just coincidence.” _

_ Nagisa sang, “It’s faaaaate!” _

_ Haru grumbled and continued eating. _

_ The curly haired boy turned back to  _ _ Juli _ _ and continued asking, “So your family moves around a lot? Is that the reason why you up and disappeared four years ago?” _

_ Juli _ _ nodded. “Yeah uh... my dad had to leave suddenly. We were... gone within the night.” _

_ “So weird.” Makoto stated. “I thought your parents were hardly around to begin with – a lot like Haru’s parents. That’s why you stayed with him right?” _

_ Juli _ _ stiffened up. “What? What do you mean stayed with him?” _

_ Makoto blinked, wondering if he’d misspoken. “When we were kids. You stayed at Haru’s almost every day, didn’t you?” _

_ She looked away, a relieved breath leaving her. “Yeah. You’re right, I did. They were always working but they were still around. When dads work made him move though... that’s when we had to go.” _

_ Haru watched her. He was the only one in the group that knew how deep her lie was. That was because back then, he helped her lie and cover up the truth. They had always told their friends that her family was always at work and so his family agreed to help watch over her – similar to how the Tachibana’s watched over Haru himself when his parents were gone. But the truth was that he had never met her family. They knew nothing about where she came from. One day he just... found her on the beach. His caring mother agreed to take her in with no hesitation. _

_ Then one day, just like she’d shown up, she was suddenly gone again. _

_ Nagisa giggled, “So Jules, can you swim now?” _

_ Juli _ _ almost spit out her food and she glared. “What?  _ _ Of course _ _ I can swim now! I could swim then too!” _

_ Makoto chuckled. “No, I distinctly remember Haru teaching you how to swim.” _

_ She glared at them both. “Yes. He did. But I was swimming just fine by the time you guys had your relay with Rin. Don’t act like I wasn’t.” _

_ “Were you...?” Nagisa repeated. “I don’t remember. I just remember you slapping around in the pool like a wounded dog.” He laughed. _

_ Juli _ _ grabbed his ear and tugged. “You  _ _ wanna _ _ fight, Nagisa?” _

_ He giggled and then looked up at the other two. “So Haru! How many trophies do you have now?” _

_ Haru looked away. “What are you talking about?” _

_ Nagisa tipped his head. “Swimming trophies? How many races have you won?” _

_ “I don’t swim in competitions.” He grumbled. _

_ Juli’s _ _ eyes widened at this and she looked over at him. _

_ Nagisa whined, “You don’t swim competitively anymore? Why not? When did that happen?” _

_ He just looked away and went quiet. Makoto waved his hand. “The last time Haru swam competitively was in the first season of middle school. Not again since.” _

_ “Why?” Nagisa asked. _

_ “Doesn’t matter.” Haru argued. _

_ Makoto’s gaze was soft on his friend before he looked back at Nagisa. “Just  _ _ cause _ _ he doesn’t swim competitively doesn’t mean that he’s changed. He needs water like we need air. In the summer you can find him in the ocean. Every other season you can find him in the bath. Like this morning.” _

_ Nagisa frowned. “That’s not really the same is it? That just sounds like bathing.” _

Jules gripped the fence as her eyes narrowed on the pool. “Haru... why... did you stop swimming?” She wanted to ask him about it, but worried that it was a sensitive subject and that she would only end up upsetting him. 

She jumped when she heard her name shouted suddenly. She looked over and saw the three guys walking out with their lunches. Her gaze softened as the wind caught her hair. For now, she wouldn’t worry about it. She’d focus instead on what she could do something about. And that was catching up with the crew she had missed so much. 

Walking over to them, she asked, “So what’s on the menu today, guys?”

Nagisa extended his hands out suddenly. “Surprise bread!” In each had was a massive bird-shaped foot long sandwich.

Juli sighed and looked up. “How did I not guess? Nagisa, your diet is awful.”

Nagisa whined and dropped his hands. “Aw... Mako said that too...”

She giggled at him before they all sat down to eat their lunches.

Nagisa asked, “Hey did you guys hear about our swim club?”

Makoto blinked and tipped his head. “What about it?”

“They’re  gonna tear it down!” Nagisa shouted.

Haru’s eyes widened a little.  Juli caught it and her gaze softened before she looked at the other two as well and stated, “If that’s true then you guys need to get your trophy right?”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah! We have to get it before it’s destroyed!”

Nagisa threw his fist up. “Let’s go tonight!”

Makoto nodded.

Juli smiled, “I’m game. What about you Haru?”

He nodded but his blue gaze seemed distant. His thoughts must have been in a totally different world.

Juli asked, “Then we’ll meet up at the swim club tonight at... 8?”

“Sounds good.” Makoto agreed.

Nagisa gave a thumbs up.


	3. Memories

“Haru!”

Haru looked over when he heard his name called. He was laying down on the floor next to the kotatsu staring up at the ceiling.  Juli sat down next to him and crossed her legs as she looked over him. “Do you  wanna go swimming later?”

Haru blinked in confusion. It was such a random question to ask out of the blue. "Why do you want to go swimming?”

She looked away and puffed a cheek. “Well... I haven’t seen you go swimming since I came back. You went to the ocean a couple times but...you weren’t really swimming. Just soaking.”

His gaze lingered on her for a minute before looking back up at the ceiling. “There isn’t really anywhere to swim anymore. So... it’s fine.”

Her gaze softened and she crawled over to him until she flopped down on his chest. He let out a grunt when she did and gently glared at her. She mumbled, “Is it really fine?”

He reached up and started to gently run his fingers through her hair. “Yeah, it is.”

Nagisa let out a squeal when he finally arrived and met with the others. “Sorry I’m late!”

Makoto fanned his hands and hushed him. “Not so loud, Nagisa. We’re technically  tresspassing so keep it down.”

Nagisa pouted, “Don’t be such a worry-wort, Makoto. We’ll be fine.”

They all looked up at the building that was old and looked like it hadn’t been tended to in years. Jules frowned as she looked up at it. “Man. It doesn’t even look the same as it did back then.”

“Yeah.” Makoto agreed. “It looks pretty beat up. It’s kind of spooky to be honest. ”

Jules looked back at him and asked, “Are you scared, Makoto?”

“No of course not!” Makoto argued. “I just think that maybe...we’re...  ya know ill-prepared to take on this task or something.”

“That sounds believable.” Haru retorted, making Juli giggle.

Nagisa raised his hand. “Have no fear, Mako! I planned ahead!” He opened his other hand and in it was a piece of paper filled with a powder of some sort.

Juli frowned. “What is that?”

Nagisa exclaimed, “Salt! For warding off ghosts! I’ve seen it in movies!” He went around  beginning to sprinkle it on everyone.

When he put some on Haru, his nose twitched for a minute before he touched the sprinkles to get some on his finger. He touched it to his tongue and then asked, “Nagisa, since when does  _ sugar _ ward off ghosts?”

Jules laughed out loud.

Makoto was walking behind Haru as though that would protect him from whatever happened. Nagisa was leading the way and  Juli had attached herself to Haru’s arm. Nuzzling her head to his shoulder, she cooed, “I’m so lucky have big strong Haru here to protect me...!”

He glared down at her. “You’re not afraid and we all know it.”

She pouted. “Aw come on. Let me pretend to be a damsel in distress?”

“You’re just looking for a reason to cling to me.” He argued.

“Is that so bad?”  Juli insisted. “You’re not pushing me away. I think you like it.”

A loud can rattled ahead, banging into the wall and then rolling across the floor. Makoto let out a scream and ducked behind Haru again and let out a whimper. “What was that?”

Nagisa giggled, “Sorry that was me hitting a can.”

Makoto urged, “Why would you do that!? You’re purposely trying to scare me!”

“I can’t help you’re afraid of your own shadow.” Nagisa argued.

While they argued back and forth,  Juli saw through the darkness a wall that had a ton of pictures on it. Her gaze softened as she walked up to it. “Hey guys, look at this.”

Nagisa turned his flashlight on it to light up all the pictures. In the middle was the one of Nagisa, Haru, Makoto, and Rin.

Juli stated, “That takes me back. Haven’t seen Rin since he went to Australia. I wonder how he’s doing.”

Nagisa grinned, “I wonder how good he’s gotten.”

Haru’s blue eyes shimmered and turned away, landing down the hall where he saw a figure move. Makoto saw it a split second after and let out a cry of fear, jumping behind his friend again. “What’s that!?”

Slowly out of the darkness stepped a guy the same age as all of them with a baseball cap on and red hair that was a mess around his face.  Juli’s gaze drifted back to the photo on the wall, immediately seeing the similarities. There was no mistaking who that was.

To confirm, he ran his fingers along the strap of this cap and tugged in – in the exact same way they remembered the Rin of the past doing it.

Nagisa squealed, “Rin! You’re back from Australia! It must be fate!”

Haru grumbled, “Back on this fate thing?”

Makoto gave him a warm smile. “Welcome back, Rin. It’s been a real long time.”

Rin glared at all of them and  Juli felt her skin prickle. Instinctively she pulled Haru, by the arm, behind her and stepped in front of him. Rin asked, “What are you losers doing here? Come to reminisce on old times? What a joke.”

Nagisa frowned, “Rin...”

Haru demanded, “And what are you doing here then? Thought you were still in Australia learning new tricks.”

“ Oh I learned new tricks. Want to find out for yourself?” Rin asked, stretching his neck and shoulders. “How about a race?”

Haru stepped forward and they two of them immediately turned and started walking down the hall.  Juli gasped, “Hey wait...Haru...” But he wasn’t listening. The two of them were already heading off for their race and nothing was going to stop them.

Juli grumbled and quickly trotted after them, followed by Makoto and Nagisa.

By the time they caught up, Rin had already yanked his shirt off, tossing it aside as he growled, “ Wanna see the difference between the two of us now? It’ll be like night and day.”

Juli’s eyes widened as she watched Haru pull his shirt up over his head, revealing the powerful lean torso she loved and craved so much. Not only that but his blue eyes were swirling with determination as he retorted to his friend, “Alright, go ahead and show me.”

Within moments they were down to nothing but their swim trunks.

Juli gasped at him and shouted, “I get a hard no, but you’ll take your pants off in seconds for Rin!? Seriously!?”

Makoto made a face at her. “What are you saying, Jules?” Shaking his head, he quickly looked back at them, “We have to stop those two!”

“Why?” Nagisa asked. “I kind of want to see what happens.”

Haru and Rin locked eyes and were rushing towards the edge of the pool, both of them focused on the other to the point nothing could deter their attention. The hopped up on the starting boards and got into position but at the last minute, they stopped.

Makoto rushed forward and focused his flashlight on the pool, seeing that it was completely void of water. He sighed, “I was trying to tell you...there’s no way the pool would still have water in it.”

Rin groaned and got back off the starting block and grabbed his clothes back up, heading for the door. Amongst his clothes, he picked up the trophy that they had come to  undig . “You losers came for this right?”

“The trophy!” Nagisa squeaked.

Rin looked away. “I don’t need it. Here you go.” With that, he let it go, letting it fall to the ground as he walked away.

Makoto and Nagisa both rushed forward to catch it but they didn’t get to it in time. Luckily though, it didn’t break.

Juli growled, “What a serious jackass.”

Nagisa shook his head. “He’s nothing like I remember...”

Jules pushed open the door to Haru’s room. She was already in one of Haru’s hoodies. A black one that was way too large for her little frame and fell down to her thighs. Her hands were hidden away in the sleeves so just her fingers stuck out. As she looked inside, she saw that Haru was laying down on the bed, still dressed, just staring up at the ceiling. She could see clearly the memories that were swirling around in those bright blue irises. 

But he looked like he was in pain.

Jules walked over to the bed and climbed in. Leaning over him, she touched her fingers to his jaw and made him tip his head so he was looking at her. He seemed to surface from the ocean of the past and recognition came back to his eyes. Her gaze softened as she cooed, “Don’t think about him for a while. He’s clearly changed. Not for the better.”

“I know...” Haru whispered simply.

She lay down next to him, her head resting on her fist, holding herself up on her side. Her other finger drew circles on his shirt as she told him, “Come on. I’ll make you forget all about him. Let’s start by taking off these clothes.” She shot up suddenly. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you were more than eager to strip your clothes for Rin but I get nothing!”

Haru’s glassy appearance finally broke with a light blush a chuckle left his lips. “Rin isn’t trying to get in my pants 24/7.”

Her gaze warmed to see that his cadaver like state was broken by her tease. “His loss. Good to see the life back in those eyes. I really don’t like Rin after that. Anything that makes those beautiful blue eyes of your cloud with uncertainty is my enemy. Now he’s  top of the list.”

He sighed and reached his large hand up, gently cupping her cheek and brushing her black hair back behind her ear. He whispered, “That’s a strange way of just saying you’re worried about me.”

She nuzzled into his hand, loving the gentleness and warmth that came from it. “I’m always worried about you, Haru...Especially now that I know... there’s things that have happened to you while I was gone that have hurt you. I want to know about them. I want to help.”

His thumb grazed her cheekbone and he whispered, “You came back. That’s a step in the right direction.”

She gave him a warm smile before it turned into a dangerous grin. “Good. Then the next step is this: if you won’t take your clothes off. I’ll take mine off.” She sat up and started lifting up the hoodie.

Haru blushed and caught the hem of it, keeping it pinned down at her legs. “No! Leave your clothes on!” He sighed, but his gaze was warm. “Thanks for cheering me up, Juli.”

She smiled, stopping in her attempt to  declothe and she flopped back over so she was laying halfway on his torso. “You don’t have to thank me. It’s my pleasure.” She paused and then puffed a cheek out. “Can I at least have a kiss? I promise I’ll be good the rest of the evening if you say yes.”

“Alright. I guess that’s fair.” Haru agreed, but he let out a noise when Jules jumped up and nuzzled her head into his. He couldn’t resist closing his eyes and nuzzling back. Their noses brushed for a few moments before he gently cupped her chin to hold her still and give her a soft, slow kiss. It wasn’t their first kiss by a long shot, but every time their lips touched, it still felt to him like his  first time diving into the water. It was a rush of joy, relief, happiness, so many feelings that he couldn’t put words to, but they were there.

She pulled away with a smile, like she always did whenever he caved and gave her something she wanted. The sparkle in her eyes always made him feel good about his decisions. Just like she promised, she nestled down and tucked herself against him, under his arm and against his chest. Her body naturally curled up into him like a kitten and it was so terribly cute.

He huffed. He wasn’t going to get to change his clothes now. He reached down and pulled the blanket up over them, tucking it around her so she was totally secured under the blanket. He brought his other hand to the back of her head and pulled her in closer. Tipping his head down, his nose rested among her silken black strands of hair and he fell asleep the gentle smell of a summer campfire.


	4. Tresspassing

Juli smiled as she sat down next to the tub and looked at Haru who had his head almost completely submerged. She rested her chin on her arms and asked, “Skipping class, Haru?” 

He glared at her. “I went this morning.” 

“Yeah but I thought you said school was all day.” Juli insisted. 

He glared up at her. “You’re here too, ya know.” 

“Well I’m not actually enrolled in school. I just pretend to be, remember?” 

His brow twitched. She asked, “So what’s up? What’s wrong? Is it still Rin?” 

He looked up and sighed, sitting up in the water. “I just didn’t feel like attending class is all.” He looked over at her and asked, “Are you hungry? Want me to grill up some mackerel?” 

Juli started to answer when she heard the front door open. She squeaked and got up quickly, running into Haru’s bedroom and hiding. 

“The answer is no.” Haru argued. 

“Oh come on! Don’t you want to see him?” Nagisa insisted. 

Haru was drying his hair off with a towel. “We just saw him yesterday.” 

“Well yeah but we found his sister goes to our school too and she said that he’s attending Samezuka! If we go over there, we might be able to see him!” Nagisa insisted. 

“But I’m saying we don’t need to see him again when we saw him yesterday.” Haru argued. “He made it very clear that he’s not interested in having anything to do with us anymore.” 

Nagisa frowned. “I just... wanna know why.” 

Haru looked away as he let the towel fall to his shoulders. Makoto looked at the two of them before he cupped his hand to his chin and commented, “You know... I really thought that you’d be jumping at the chance to swim in an actual pool. Theirs is indoors and everything.” 

Haru paused and looked up at him, but this time his blue eyes were shimmering with joy. 

Makoto smiled when he saw that he had won the boy over again. 

Nagisa grinned and started shaking Haru’s shoulders. “We need to let Jules know, too! Do you have her number so you can get ahold of her?” 

Haru nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let her know.” 

After the boys left, Jules trotted out of his room and jumped on Haru’s back. He stumbled forward and glared at her over his shoulder despite wrapping his arm under her legs and keeping her held up. She stated, “They asked about my number, but I don’t have a phone. I should get one, shouldn’t I?” 

Haru set her down when he walked back in his bedroom and asked, “Why would you need one?” 

“So you can get ahold of me, like Nagisa said.” Juli suggested with confusion. 

Haru pulled on his jacket. “But why would I need to call you if you’re always with me?” 

Juli’s eyes widened a little. He looked away. “If you’re always at my side then there’s no reason to get you a cell phone. Besides. My parents would question why we needed to add another line.” 

She cozied up to him and hugged his arm. “So you’re saying no phone necessary as long as we’re attached at the hip, right?” 

“More or less, yeah.” He confirmed. 

“Then I’m never going anywhere, per your order, Haru.” She giggled. 

He huffed. “I already told you not to go anywhere, this isn’t news.” 

Her gaze warmed. “I still like hearing it... that you don’t want me to leave.” 

He turned his head away. “I say it all the time, it’s not a big deal.” 

She reached up and gently cupped his jaw, turning his head back to her as her gaze softened. “It’s always a big deal to me, Haruka...” She tipped her head and kissed him slowly. He held still and let her kiss him as she wanted and even gave her a soft, slow kiss back. She pulled away, her hand sliding down his chest, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake. 

He grumbled at her, “It’s Haru, Juli.” 

It wasn’t too much longer before they all met up at the train station and boarded. Within minutes of being on the train, Juli curled up against Haru’s side, her head coming to rest on his shoulder and a soft snore leaving her lips. 

Nagisa and Makoto sat on either side of them, grins on their faces. 

Haru grumbled at them. “What are you two looking at?” 

Makoto’s gaze warmed and he put on his glowing smile. “Oh nothing.” 

Nagisa giggled, “It’s just that it didn’t take you two long to pick right up where you left off.” 

Haru glared at him. “What are you talking about?” 

Nagisa tipped his head up, putting his finger to his lip in the innocent way he always did. “Oh... you know... back in the day, Jules never left your side. On the beach, when we took trips, wherever, it didn’t matter. She was always clinging to you. Not to mention since she was always at your place when her folks weren’t around. It looks like she still always wants to be at your side.” 

Haru looked down at her but he didn’t say anything. 

Makoto asked, “It’s great that her parents moved back here so we can all hang out again. Hopefully they stick around for a while this time. No more goodbyes for a while, right?” 

Haru frowned, his blue eyes swimming with worry. “Yeah. No more goodbyes.” 

The sun was starting to set so Haru turned away from the reflection in the window, closing one eye. When he did, he heard the click of a phone and looked over, eyes wide, to see that Nagisa snapped a picture. Haru grumbled, “Hey what gives?” 

Nagisa stuck his tongue out and turned the phone around. “Sorry but you two just look too cute to pass up. Here, I’ll send it to your phone, Haru.” 

He sighed and casually grumbled, “Don’t take peoples’ pictures without permission.” 

After a little while, the train came to a stop and the other two got up while Haru gently shook Juli’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up.” 

He had just started to move her a little when her hand reached up, clasping around his wrist and her eyes shot open, gasping, “Don’t do it - “ 

Haru’s wide worried eyes looked her over. “Jules?” 

She panted a bit and pushed her hair out of her face. “S-sorry.” 

He started to ask her if it was another nightmare but he realized the other two would question why he knew. 

Nagisa leaned down and asked, “Did you have a bad dream, Juli?” 

“Yeah...” She whispered, her eyes downcast. 

“What about?” He asked. 

Her eyes glazed over. “Drowning...” 

They exchanged looks, but said nothing. 

Samezuka wasn’t a far walk from the train station so it wasn’t long before they found themselves peeking into the window of the high school pool. There were a ton of people around but none of them looked familiar. Makoto was the first to say it, “I don’t see Rin anywhere...” 

Juli looked over her shoulder to ask Haru if he could see him but as soon as she did, she was distracted. He was already unbuttoning his top, letting it open over his chest with his tie undone over his shoulders. His hands went for the belt around his pants. Her tongue ran over her lips. The second those pants dropped, she was going to pounce and _ oh how she wanted to pounce _. 

But before he could get them off, Makoto grabbed his wrists and ordered, “Stop taking your clothes off!” 

Juli argued, “_ Don’t _ stop taking your clothes off!” 

Nagisa nudged Juli. “You like seeing Haru in a swimsuit huh? Are you secretly a pervert?” 

Juli scoffed. “No secret about it Nagisa.” 

“I remember you were kinda weird back then, too...” 

Juli’s brow twitched. “_ I _ was weird!?” 

He laughed. 

Haru glared at Makoto and seethed, “I only came here to swim so that’s what I’m gonna do!” 

Makoto sighed. “Are you crazy!?” 

Juli waved her hand. “Let’s just wait until their practice is over, then we can steal the pool for ourselves.” 

Makoto sighed heavily. “You two don’t know this cause you weren’t at school but Nagisa and I got really chewed out for trespassing at the old swim club last night.” 

“What, how did they find out?” Jules questioned. 

“I don’t know.” Makoto insisted. “But this will also be considered tresspassing if we get caught.” 

“So what I’m hearing is: don’t get caught.” Jules interpreted. 

Makoto sighed again with defeat. 

Nagisa smiled at him. “Remember Miss Amakata stood up for us and said something about holding an empty glass to the moon. We should - “ 

Juli was distracted as Haru finished taking off his clothes, leaving him in only his swimsuit. She licked her lips. 

Makoto demanded, “What is wrong with you!?” 

By the time the last person left practice, the moon was high in the sky. Once they were out of sight, Haru barrelled through the door, ripping his clothes back off in his wake and lunging into the pool. 

Makoto sighed. “I still think this is going to get us in serious trouble.” 

Jules walked to the edge and smiled. Haru’s face looked liked it was positively glowing. Despite his words the other day, this proved that she was right and that he was anxious to swim again. She pulled her shoes off and sat on the edge, dipping her legs into the water so she could enjoy the sensation on her skin. 

Nagisa wasted no time stripping all of his clothes off and jumping into the water himself. 

Makoto gasped, “Nagisa! Don’t just strip in front of a lady! That’s inappropriate!” 

Nagisa came back to the surface and shook his head, water splashing out of his hair as he chuckled. “What? Jules doesn’t care! She already confirmed she’s a pervert!” 

Makoto sighed. “That, in and of itself is a completely different topic.” He walked over to the pool. “Come on, Nagisa, seriously. Put your clothes back o-” He gasped when Nagisa lunged out, grabbed his ankles and yanked him into the water with them. 

Before long, the two of them were splashing each other and laughing while Haru floated joyfully along the waters surface. Her gaze softened, warming as she watched him. More than anyone else she’d ever known, he looked like he belonged in the water. It was his home. 

She looked up and over when she heard the door open and her skin prickled with malice when she saw Rin walking towards them. In a heart beat, she pulled her legs out of the water and was on her feet, stepping between him and the others. 

Rin narrowed his eyes on her. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

Her eyes narrowed right back. “Stay away from them.” 

He looked around her, ignoring her completely. “What are you all doing here?” 

“We were looking for you!” Nagisa stated with a big smile. 

Rin ordered, “Get out!” 

Juli started to reach out and pull him back but she noticed that Haru swam up and looked up at him. “Back then, I told you that I only swim freestyle. Did you forget?” He climbed out of the water and Juli couldn’t help but watch the water as it ran down his perfect body. Haru continued, “I’m supposed to have three years left till I’m normal. I guess it couldn’t hurt to wait a little longer.” He flipped the water out of his hair. ”What was it you showed me back then that I wasn’t supposed to forget? I seem to be having a little trouble remembering.” 

Rin’s eyes darkened and he growled, “Oh I see what this is. Have it your way. Just know this time, it will be completely different.” 


	5. The Store

Jules paused as she pulled a couple towels out of the dryer and folded them over. Her gaze was soft. At the rate he was taking baths, there wasn’t going to be enough towels in the world. Even now he was in the bath again. She carried the towel upstairs to the bathroom and pushed open the door.

He immediately blushed and turned away slightly before grumbling at her. “At least knock or something first, Juli.”

Juli giggled as she sat the towel on the counter and teased him. “You’ve never cared before now.” When she looked at the water, she realized that she could see majority of his leg instead of the end of his swimsuit. She giggled and teased him, “Oh you’re actually taking a real bath this time.” She pranced over to him. “Need help washing your back, Haru? I bet I can reach everywhere.”

His cheeks were bright pink as he turned his head away. “ No I don’t need your help, thank you!”

She laughed happily as her gaze softened. “You sound much more lively today. That race with Rin last night meant a lot, huh?”

His gaze reflected her own and he nodded his head. “Yes. It did.” He paused for several moments before looking back up at her and he asked, “Jules?”

“Yeah?” She answered.

“You... can really still swim, right?” He asked cautiously.

Juli suddenly laughed out loud. “ Of course I can, silly. What brought that question on?”

“Yesterday on the train... you said your nightmare... was of drowning.”

The smile immediately fell from her face and her crimson eyes turned away. “Oh. Did I?” After several moments of silence, she sighed and walked over and sat on the edge of the tub. A shadow loomed over her expression as she carefully whispered, “Drowning was... the closest answer to the truth I could give.”

Haru’s blue eyes filled with concern. “ Juli ...When can you tell me? When can I know the truth about what happened to you? There was no sign... no indication that you were going to disappear before you did. In  fact ... I thought you were happy with all of  us.  I thought that you didn’t want to leave my side and - “

“I didn’t!” Jules unintentionally shouted. She lowered her head into her hand, trying her best to keep from  sobbing.  “I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. But I... didn’t have a choice.”

Haru’s eyes were wide and he gently scooted forward until he could reach the hands covering her face. Tenderly he pulled her palms from her face and asked, “ Juli ... did someone force you to leave?”

“Yes...” She whispered. She tried to take her hands back but his grip was firm – not tight – but he wasn’t going to let her pull away. Because of that, she slid on the edge of the tub, closer to him and slipped into the water as well. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, cradling her and protecting her from hitting her head on the other side of the tub.

She lay there, staring up at him as the water slowly began to soak through her clothes. His blue eyes were swimming with worry and protectiveness. He confessed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that... someone took you away against your will. I would have... tried harder to find  you.  To bring you back. I know that we were kids but... the promises we made... I meant them. Every single one of them.”

Her gaze softened. “We made childish promises, too, remember? You told your mom once that we’d get married when we’re older and we’d have the biggest pool in the world.”

Amusement returned to his eyes, but his smile grew. “Every single promise.”

Her eyes shimmered before she shifted some and rested her head on his strong shoulder. She mumbled, “I don’t know how big that pool will have to be. But I think it’s going to have to be really big. That’s... the only concern I have with that promise.”

Haru kissed the top of her head and agreed, “Me too.” He pulled her in closer before he looked up and asked, “I won’t ask you to tell me everything right now. But... can you please tell me...is there a risk... of that person coming and taking you away again?”

Juli sighed and looked down sadly. “Yes. It’s... always going to be a risk.”

Haru looked up for a long moment, as though processing her words before another sigh left him and he looked down at her. “Tomorrow... let’s get you a phone.”

Her eyes widened a bit. “But I thought you said I didn’t need one?”

Haru shook his head. “That was before I knew there’s someone out there forcing you against your will. If there’s a chance they could come back... then I need to make sure you have a way to contact me.”

Jules sat up more, her red eyes shimmering with emotion. “Haru...”

He grazed his finger along her jaw and tipped her head up more. “I don’t want to lose you again... especially knowing now that it’s not your choice...”

She nodded her head and slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck, burying her head against his neck and breathing in the refreshing watery scent she loved so much. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again, Haru. And one day... I promise... I’ll tell you. I’m just... not ready yet.”

Haru nodded his head. “Don’t rush. I’m not going anywhere.”

At school, Jules found herself wandering the halls between classes. She made sure to stay out of sight of teachers so she wouldn’t cause any trouble, but she still got restless waiting for the brief minutes in between his classes. It wasn’t nearly enough for her, but she didn’t have much choice so she’d just have to make due.

While walking down the hall at one point, she happened to notice another student at their locker, stuffing books away. The girl was taller than her, but her figure was slim and her eyes were bright blue and white like the tide rolling in from the ocean. When she tipped her head, her black locks shifted over her shoulder and joined the rest of her beautiful curls down her back. “Oh, hi there.”

Jules rubbed the back of her neck. “Hey. Uh... skipping class, too?”

Her pink lips curved into a grin. “Heck yeah. These classes are so dull. I learn more just reading at home. The teachers are enough to put me to sleep though so there’s that.” She paused and stated, “My name is  Ausa . Are you new?”

“I am. My name is Jules.” She answered, extending her hand.

Ausa shifted her books to one arm and accepted it and shook. “What a lovely and unique name. But if you’re new and you’re already skipping classes, that must speak a lot to our school, huh?”

She fanned her hands. “It’s nothing like that. I’m just not a great student.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Shifting her bag and turning on her heel, she stated, “If you’re skipping anyway, you should consider going to the beach. That’s where I go. I find looking out into the ocean helps calm my nerves and lets me think. That’s where you’ll always find me.”

“I’ll think on it.” Jules mused before turning and walking the other way.

Haru held his finger up to Jules. “Alright, do you remember the rules from the first time we went out in public?” The two of them were on the train, heading towards the city. 

Jules tipped her head up as she thought it over. “Let’s see... I remember... that not everything is free. I can’t just walk up and take stuff. That... I should just go up to strangers and say whatever is on my mind – some things are rude. Oh and to never leave your sight.”

Haru nodded his head. “Right. Good job.” He patted her shoulder. When they arrived at their stop, he ushered her off the train and then up the stairs and out in front of a large store. He asked her, “Do you remember Walmart?”

Jules shook her head. He smiled and prodded her along next to him as he rambled, “There’s malls we could have gone to, to get you a phone but I thought we had a better chance of not running into anyone we know here. We’d have to come up with a story as for why we were here together if we did.”

“You mean lie?” Jules inferred.

He frowned. “Yeah. We’d have to lie. It’s just the safest option. I know it’s not ideal though. Sorry.” His blue eyes went back to her as he reached down and took her hand. “Since we can’t put you on my family line without getting caught, this place sells phones that can be used month by month.”

“Is it going to be expensive?” She asked.

His gaze softened and he gave her a sincere smile. “ Kinda . But... it’s worth the peace of mind of knowing you’re okay. You’re going to keep this on you at all times, alright? And if anything happens, you call me immediately.”

She nodded her head as they walked through the store. They were heading to the back but when they passed through the clothes section, a dress caught her eye.

Gasping, she dove to the dress and lifted the hanger up and turned to him. “Haru! Look how cute this dress is! You all have such adorable clothing! I’m so jealous!”

Haru watched her, seeing how excited she was over the red floral dress. When she held it up, he could immediately see her in it, with a sun hat and sandles on the beach. It really brought out the red of her eyes and was a stark contrast to her black hair. When she started to put it back, he caught her wrist and affectionately asked, “Why don’t you find one in your size and try it on?”

Juli hesitated but then she nodded her head, wanting to see how it actually looked on her. She started to lift her shirt up when Haru gasped and grabbed it, pulling it back down. He demanded, “What are you doing?”

Confusion spread across her face. “Trying the dress on. You told me to.”

“Y-You can’t just undress here.” He whispered sharply.

“Why? You undress all the time before jumping into water tanks. Makoto said so.” She argued.

“That’s different!” He corrected. “I’m still wearing a swimsuit and I’m a guy.” He ushered her over to the changing rooms. “Here.” He looked up at the associate working them. “One please.”

After getting a hanger, she found a room and changed before stepping back out. Haru’s arms were crossed and his face was flushed from her almost mishap still. But when she came out and he turned to look at her, his entire world stopped.

She looked down at herself while brushing her black hair behind her ear. She stated, “It’s every bit as cute as I thought it’d be.”

She was right. The dress showed off her slender shoulders and arms and the red floral design was a perfect match for both her looks and her personality.

It took several moments for him to remember how to breathe. Stepping up to her, he stated, “Let’s get the dress...”

Her red eyes glistened. “Okay!”

Haru busied himself with pretending to look at some clothes while he waited for her to come out from changing back. He glanced up when he thought he heard familiar voices and his eyes widened when he saw Ren and Ran – Makoto's younger siblings – fighting over a couple PJs. He started to back up and turn around when Makoto’s voice rang out.

“Will you two  stop fighting?” He ushered, stepping out around the corner. He stopped when he saw Haru frozen like a deer in headlines. His green eyes beamed. “Hey Haru! What are you doing out shopping by yourself? You could have called and joined - “

“Haru, are you sure - “ Jules stopped when she stepped out of the changing room and looked up to see Makoto and Haru staring at each other.

Haru’s face flushed and he looked away with the  worlds biggest pout.

A knowing look came across Makoto’s face. “Oh, I see. I get it.”

Haru glared. “Get what?”

The twins ran up to Haru and started jumping all over him.

Makoto was nodding his head as though he were a detective that had solved a whole mystery. “You were going shopping with Jules, huh? Isn’t  it kind of weird to bring her here for a first date though?”

Haru gasped, “What are you talking about? It’s not a date.”

Jules asked, “What’s a date?”

Haru corrected, “Nothing, it isn’t one.”

“Then what are you going shopping together for?” Makoto asked.

Haru grumbled. “We just... ran into each other is all. And even if we hadn’t, then why can’t we go shopping as friends, like we do?”

Makoto chuckled. “I’m not saying you can’t. I just don’t think you are.” He looked at Jules and asked, “How are you today? Having a nice day off school?”

Jules looked expectantly up at Haru.

Haru flinched and looked away. “It’s not a trick question, just answer him.”

Jules gleamed, “Yeah! I’m having a great day! Haru’s  gonna get me this dress.”

Haru gasped and flinched again.

Makoto’s eyes narrowed more. “Oh. Is he now? Haru doesn’t buy  _ me _ clothes when we shop.”

Haru glared at him.

Makoto chuckled and fanned his hand. “I’m just teasing. But I’ll let you two get back to it. I’m buying the twins new PJs. Ren ripped his and now Ran wants a new pair too. It’ll be a miracle to make it out alive.” He waved as he pulled the twins off Haru. “Bye guys!”

Haru groaned as he walked with Jules. “Crap. Now he’s going to be asking me questions later.”

Jules frowned. “Was it a mistake coming out?”

Haru’s eyes widened a bit and when he looked at her, they softened and he shook his head. “No. It’s not a mistake. Not at all.” He mussed her hair. “Let’s just hurry and find those phones.”

On their way to the back of the store, Haru paused when he saw a shelf with a massive discount sign for mackerel. He stopped and glared at it for several minutes. Jules waved her hand in front of his face. “Haru...?”

He grumbled and grabbed several cans. “It’s a good deal.”

She grinned. “Good!”

They started to walk away when Haru’s name was shouted. This time the voice was much higher pitched and exciteable.

Haru’s face darkened. “Oh no...”

Nagisa tackled him from behind, knocking the cans out of his arms and both of them stumbled forward. Haru glared at him. “Watch out...!”

Nagisa rubbed his head into his back. “Haru!” He looked down at the spilled cans as Haru picked them back up. “ Oh buying more mackerel I see.  Big surprise.”

Jules giggled.

Nagisa’s eyes sparkled. “Jules! You’re here too!” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. “ Oh I see. You and Haru are already grocery shopping together.”

Haru growled, “We are not.”

“I have a question for you then, Jules.” Nagisa stated, taking her hand and bringing her down the aisle towards the sauces. “Mom told me to pick up a super  tastey sauce but I don’t know which  ones best. What do you recommend?”

Jules frowned. “W-why are you asking me?”

Nagisa looked totally baffled. “Well I figured you’d be the one of the two of you to do all the cooking since Haru only cooks mackerel.”

“What’s wrong with mackerel?” Jules asked.

Nagisa made a face. “ Oh I see.” He suddenly spun around with stars in his eyes. “No wonder you and Haru make such a great couple!”

Haru growled, “We’re not a couple!”

“What’s a couple?” Jules asked. “Doesn’t that just mean two?”

Nagisa opened his mouth to argue but Haru cut him off, “We’re not a couple!”

Nagisa grinned and then turned to Jules. “So which one should I get?”

Jules sighed and grabbed a can off the shelf and handed it to him. “Here. This should make her happy.”

Nagisa cheered and went running off. “Thanks guys!”

Haru looked back at her, “Which one did you give him?”

Juli shrugged. “I just picked one at random so he’d go away.”

Haru chuckled. “Good work. Let’s go.”

They were almost to the electronics section when  Juli found herself stopped at a large cage that was filled to the brim with stuffed animals. Her eyes shimmered as she looked over all of them.

Haru had gone a couple steps but stopped when he saw her looking. A small snicker left him as he asked, “I should have known you’d be a sucker for these little things. Want one?”

Jules opened her mouth but stopped and straightened up. “No. I don’t want one.”

Haru looked at her suspiciously. “You sure? You looked totally entranced by them.”

Juli looked away with a pout. Worriedly Haru asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You’re... getting me a phone... and that dress. You said... it’d be expensive right? So... I don’t want to ask for anything else...” Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

He shrugged with his entire body as his blue eyes sparkled. He put his hand on top of her head and stated, “You haven’t asked for anything. I’m not buying you things because I need to. Or because I have some obligation to. I’m buying them for you because I want. Because I want the peace of mind knowing you can call me if we get split up. Because I thought you looked so cute in that dress and I  wanna see you wear it. And now... because you made the most adorable expression when you looked at those stuffed animals.”

Juli’s eyes were trembling with happiness and tears were threatening the corners of them. His words were so sincere and made her heart race so hard. She nodded her head. “If you’re sure...”

“I’m very sure. Now. Pick one out.” He told her.

Jules turned back to the little cage. “Okay. I know which one I want. I saw a dolphin up there and Nagisa is always saying you swim like a dolphin.”

Haru chuckled quietly. The way her mind worked was so precious.

Juli finally found the one she wanted and went to shove an orca stuffed animal out of the way when it was stuck in place. Glaring, she shoved harder, until she heard a noise on the other side of the tower. She pulled the dolphin out and walked around. “Sorry, I didn’t realize that – oh hey it’s you. Hi Ausa.”

Ausa had the orca in her arms now and pouted at  Juli . “I thought you were going to rip my arm off. That wasn’t very nice.”

Haru glanced between the two girls. “You two know each other?”

Juli pointed her finger. “Yeah we met at school the other day actually. Just briefly though.”

Ausa gave her a suspicious look. “You’re new but you’re already hanging out with boys huh? Suspicious.”

Juli fanned her hands. “I actually lived her once a long time ago. I was friends with Haru back then. We just picked up right where we left off.”

Ausa looked between them before crossed her arms around the stuffed plushie. “Liar. But I won’t press. Enjoy your dolphin. Orcas are so much cuter though...” She giggled.

Juli huffed, “Are not!”

Haru sighed as he looked down at the phone in his hand. “Finally. This has been the longest trip ever. I came here thinking we’d be less likely to run into anyone else and it turns out we’ve run into actually everyone.”

Juli giggled, “Sorry. But I appreciate you doing this.”

Haru looked down at her and smiled. “Of course. Now all that’s left is to check out and we can go home.”

When he saw a lane with no line, he started to turn towards it at the same time as someone else, bumping into their side. Haru glanced over to apologize but came to a dead stop. He and the other person immediately locked glares.

Rin tipped his head. “Well look at this. Didn’t think I’d run into the likes of you here.” He glanced back at  Juli . “Spoiling your little girlfriend? Can’t believe after all this time the two of you are still attached at the hip like little nerds.”

Juli puffed her cheek. “Why are you so mean now!?”

Rin growled, “I was always mean, get over it.”

Haru glared at him, “Don’t talk to her like that.” He put his arm out. “Come on Jules, let’s check out and get away from this jerk.”

Rin cut him off, his arm in front of  his.  “Actually I was in line first, so you can wait.”

Haru’s brow twitched. “Are you blind? My foot was clearly in front of  yours !”

“As if! Everyone knows that you may swim like a torpedo in the water but you’re a turtle on foot! There’s no one the likes of you could have gotten in line first!”

“I can and I did!” Haru argued.

Jules sighed and as the two of them went at it, she walked up to Haru’s other side, taking the phone and his wallet and walking on head of them and to the cashier who was looking on in confusion. Speaking quietly over their bickering she opened up the wallet. “I don’t really know how to use any of this... is this paper what you need?”

The guy questioned, “You don’t know to use cash?” He flinched when Rin’s voice got suddenly louder.

Juli shook her head. “I’m not from around here. And I was kind of... um... sheltered.”

The guy nodded his head and explained the bills and their amounts, as well as showed her how to use cards to swipe in the machines. It was pretty straight forward. “Let’s use the cash.” She counted out the amount and handed it over.

He smiled and handed her the bag of stuff.

She waved her hand. “Thanks!” Walking back over to Haru, she put the wallet back in his pocket and tugged his hand. “Let’s go.”

Haru immediately stopped arguing. “Huh?” He saw the bag of paid for goods and forgot about Rin completely. “Yeah, okay.” They left.

Rin stayed where he was a moment before he gasped. “Wait what the hell?!” He stomped up to the register and tossed his shit on the belt. He hated losing.


	6. Swim Club

Makoto sighed as he, Haru, Nagisa, and  Juli sat on the rooftop eating their lunches. “At this rate, I think we’re going to have a reputation for the rest of the year. We were yelled at so much.”

Juli munched on her food. “For what?”

“ Trespassing .” Makoto answered and then paused, “Why weren’t you called in to get scolded?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I wasn’t noticed.”

“Either way,” Nagisa  interrupted and puffed his cheeks. “Rin was mean just like the first time! What’s gotten into him?”

Haru looked down and  Juli couldn’t help but think there was something that he wasn’t talking about, the same way that she wasn’t talking about her past. One day... she hoped they both could talk about them.

“Oh well, I think it’s for the best that if he wants to be left alone, that we leave him be.” Makoto insisted. Nagisa pouted at this.

The door behind them opened and a girl with hair the same color as Rin’s stepped out. Makoto smiled up at her. “Hi, Gou. Would you like to join us?” Waiting until she sat down, he explained to Haru and  Juli , “We ran into her the other day. This is Gou Matsuoka – Rin's little sister.”

She dipped her head pleasantly. “Nice to meet you.” She looked between all of them and asked, “Did you get a chance to talk to my brother?”

Nagisa huffed, “No! He wasn’t interested in talking! He just wanted to race Haru!”

Gou looked down. “I was really hoping he might open up to you guys. He hasn’t talked to me about anything from Australia and when I went to see him the other day at practice, I learned he hasn’t even joined the swim team.”

“He hasn’t?” Makoto gasped.

She shook her head. “I don’t get it  though . Why join  Samezuka if it wasn’t to swim?”

“I don’t know... that doesn’t make sense.” Makoto stated.

Nagisa leaned forward. “Then why don’t we give him a nudge! Let’s start a swim club here at school?”

Makoto gaped. “What? Us? No way, that’s way too much work. Right, Haru?” He smiled at his friend.

Haru glanced up from his mackerel and answered, “I don’t care. Sure.”

Makoto’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”

He nodded, “Sure.”

Makoto was baffled, to the point he actually stumbled over his words. “But Haru... you understand how much will be involved with that, right? There’s a process to it and - “

“That’s fine.” He answered again, just as indifferent as before.

Jules glanced between the two of them, wishing she knew more about what was going on.

After school, Jules trotted down the steps after class. Haru was in a different class so there was a brief period of time she could talk before they met up. Before he got to the bottom of the steps, Jules called out, “Makoto.”

Makoto stopped and looked back up. “Oh hey, Jules. What’s up?”

She stopped a couple steps above him and asked, “Can I ask you something?” When he nodded, she asked again, “Why... did you think that Haru wouldn’t want to start a swimming club? He loves swimming still... right?”

Mako sighed, his gaze soft. He explained, “Haru does love swimming. But... he hasn’t  swam competitively in so long. He would never give a reason or tell me what happened, but one day he just stopped and he’s refused to swim again since.  So him agreeing to start this club... was really a surprise.”

Her eyes were wide. “He... hasn’t even told you what’s going on? How strange...”

Mako frowned a bit. “I’ve always wanted to ask, but I can tell that something happened and it hurts him to talk about. Maybe you could get him to open up again.”

She looked down. “Maybe...”

“You and Haru used to be so close.” He stated suddenly. “I think it would help him to be able to talk to you about these things.”

She stared at him in shock as he walked away.

When Haru sat a plate down in front of her, she smiled up at him, “Thank you.” He sat down in front of his plate across the table as well. They ate in silence for a bit, both of them watching the TV as news rolled across the screen.

She looked up at him and asked, “Are you excited about starting the club and getting to swim more?”

At the mere suggestion of swimming more, his blue eyes shimmered with joy. But he covered it up by casually answering, “I suppose I am.”

“Will you race again?” She asked.

He took a bite of rice. “I will only swim free.”

Juli suddenly started giggling. “Still going around saying that, huh?”

He pouted at her. “It’s the truth.”

“I know, I know, it’s just so cute.” She told him, looking back at the TV.

“ _ This weekend there will be a large storm rolling across the island and can expect heavy winds and flooding in several areas _ .”

Jules lowered her bowl of rice a bit. “Severe weather, huh?”

Haru nodded. “Yeah. It’s supposed to start raining tonight.” He paused and asked, “Will you be okay?”

She looked away. “Storms are never good. They bring... misfortune.”

Between bites, Haru calmly stated, “The last storm brought you.”

Her eyes widened a bit as she looked up at him. His cheeks were pink as he added, “I don’t think that was unfortunate.”

Her own gaze shimmered now before she sighed. “Haru...” She got up and grabbed her plate and bowl and scooted around to his side of the table. She sat down so her body was right up against him. Her arms looped around one of his and she hugged herself against his side. “You say things like that so casually.”

He ate his bite of mackerel. “It’s just the truth, no big deal.”

“It is a big deal.”  Juli argued. “With no warning, I showed back up in the middle of a storm. You didn’t hesitate to take me in once again and give me a place to stay. Despite me not giving you any answers for anything that’s happened. You’re selfless...Haruka...”

He grumbled,  “Don’t use my full name. And I’m not selfless. I was thinking of myself when I agreed to let you stay. I was thinking about how lonely I was without you.”

“Me too, Haru.” She replied. “I thought about you every day.”

“I did, too.” He agreed. When he finished his food, the two of them moved to the living room. Haru leaned back on the couch while Jules curled up in his lap. Her head rested on his thigh and she stretched out across the cushions. His hand rested on her head as his fingers strummed through her silken hair. Just like every time, it even relaxed him.

Not too much longer after, he realized that her eyes fluttered closed and she began to snooze soundlessly on his leg. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her. As he sat there, he kept thinking about the race with Rin and what it would mean if they started a swim club and they could all swim together again, just like back in the old days.

Haru looked over as the rain began to tap away at the windows and the wind whistled around the house. Jules shifted and sat up, her gaze immediately going to the window where the dark sky loomed. He rubbed her back and asked, “Are you okay, Juli?”

She smiled to herself and sat up. “Yeah. Storms just... aren’t my favorite.”

He suggested, “Then let’s go to bed. I’ll pull the curtains on the window.”

She sat up off his lap and when he stood, he took her hand, gently guiding her to her feet and holding her hand as they walked back to his bedroom. She squeezed his hand softly as she whispered, “Do you remember... back then... I used to never let go of your hand... once we got over our differences?”

“Yeah. I remember.” He told her, his blue eyes swirling with affection. “You were so clingy. I hardly ever got time to swim.”

“That’s a lie and you know it.” She laughed. “But... with this swim club... you can swim all the time again. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

He smiled. “Yeah... it does.”

Even though, outwardly, Nagisa was more excited than anyone else, Jules couldn’t help thinking that Haru was actually the one most excited about the swim club. Every day his gaze had been on the ocean, his eyes sparkling with a light she hadn’t seen much since she returned. She could almost read his mind and know that he was thinking finally getting to get back in the water again.

During their lunches, the four of them had been talking and planning out how they were going to bring the swim club to life. It started with them each taking a post within the club and then discussing how to recruit new members. Each of her suggestions had been how to use her womanly charms in a  binkini to lure more boys in but for some bizarre reason, Haru shut that down every time.

So instead, they were going to use old fashioned flyers to let people know they were trying to build a club. She tacked a plain old piece of paper with some scribbled words on the  bulletin board. All it said was “Join the swim club! Meet on the roof!”

“That’s a flyer?”

Jules jumped when she heard the familiar voice and slowly looked over her shoulder.  Ausa had a brow arched as she looked over the plain white paper. She commented, “It’s not very... lively. I don’t think that’s  gonna cut it.”

Jules frowned. “What do you mean? It has all the necessary info.”

Ausa shook her head. “Yeah maybe but it’s boring...” She pointed to one of the other flyers. “You want someone to look at it and think, ‘that club looks fun’!”

She puffed her cheeks. “But it’s about swimming so... who cares if the poster is nice?”

Ausa chuckled and shook her head. “Just trust me. Why don’t you go hit up the art club about it and see what they say.” She pulled the flyer down and handed it back to her. “They’re always looking for a new opportunity to art stuff up.”

“Thanks...” Jules told her. She paused when she started to walk off. “Hey. You said you like going to the ocean right? Do you like swimming, too?”

Ausa blinked and tipped her head. “I suppose I do, but I’m not much into competing.”

“Oh.” Jules turned back away. “Well if you change your mind... come find me.”

“Maybe if you come to the beach some time!”  Ausa shouted, a grin on her lips.

Jules held the stack of posters out to the others. “Ausa says these posters are no good.”

Nagisa whined while Makoto asked, “Ausa?”

Jules nodded her head.

Haru questioned, “Is that the girl from the store?”

“What girl from the store?” Makoto asked.

Haru answered, “We ran into a girl that Jules knew at the store the other day. The same day we ran into you.”

“And me!” Nagisa cheered.

Haru gave her a bored look. “But why is she saying our posters don’t work? Is she the student council or something?”

“Student... council...?” Jules repeated in confusion.

Makoto made a face. “Did your old school not have one? I thought all schools did?”

Haru intercepted, “She attended a private school. It’s different.” Turning back to her he asked, “Since it doesn’t work, did she have suggestions?”

“She did. She recommended we go see the art club.”

Nagisa shouted, “The art club!? I  wanna go!”

Makoto grabbed the back of Nagisa’s jacket and pulled him down and glared at him. “I don’t think so. We have another task to take care of. We need a teacher who will represent our club. We need to find someone and we’ll let Haru and Jules take care of the posters. Sound good to you guys?”

Jules gave a thumbs up before dragging Haru away with her. As they left the rooftop, she snuggled up to him and coyly purred, “If there’s no art club members in there, does that mean we can use their room for some other extra  curricular private activities?”

Haru glared at her. “No.”


	7. When I think Free

Jules wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting when she came into the art room. Based on things she’d heard, she assumed things like paint all over the walls and ceiling, a bunch of disheveled painters that were desperate for their next inspiration. But that’s not what they walked in on. No, instead it was a bunch of students sitting around at desks with some pencils out, a few gossiping together, some with acrylic or water color paints out but the room seemed to be... much calmer than she expected.

Leaning to Haru, she asked, “Is this really the art room? It’s not as... chaotic as I thought it’d be...”

Haru’s brows furrowed. “What did you think the art room was?”

One of the guys that was sitting closest to the door they just walked in through, looked up. He had black hair and golden yellow eyes. Most of his hair was shaved and what wasn’t was pulled back into a small black bun. He stood up and pushed his glasses up his nose, smiling at them. “Hi. Can I help you two?”

Jules stiffened up at his question and stepped behind Haru a bit. He grumbled at her, “This was your idea in the first place...”

She whined, “Yeah but now that I’m here, I take it back.”

Haru sighed and pulled his bag around, reaching into it and pulling out the stack of flyers. He showed them to the others and stated, “This is what we’re here for. We want to design flyers for the swim club. We were told these won’t get anyones attention.”

The guy chuckled and crossed his arms. “Yeah that’s not a flyer. It’s a note.”

Haru pouted more. “So that’s why we’re here. We want help designing something better.”

He smiled. “You came to the right place. My name is Hunter. And you are?”

Haru dipped his head. “I’m Haru. And this is Jules.”

Waving his hand, he casually ordered, “Come with me.” He walked them across the room and into another room that looked like what she was expecting. The walls were covered with paint, glaze, and there were all sorts of tools, equipment and anything a creative person could think of in the large open room. A group of guys were all huddled around discussing things until Hunter whistled.

They all shot up and looked over. He grinned, “Hey guys. Take a break. Got a couple students that need some creative help designing a poster. Wanna have a go?”

Like wild animals to food, they all launched towards Haru and Jules, asking tons of questions and pulling the flyers from their grasp. Without any instigation from them whatsoever, they had the plainly written words for the poster clipped to a wall and started discussing ideas and topics.

Jules and Haru just sat down at the table and watched them work.

After some time, one of the guys finally held his hands up and stated, “Okay, hold on. I know we all have tons of ideas, but this isn’t  _ our _ poster.” He walked over to the table Haru and Jules were sitting at and sat across from them. He smiled, “Did either of you have ideas?”

Haru shook his head. “No. You can do whatever you want.”

“But it’s for your club.” The guy insisted. He had messy curly brown hair but his green eyes were warm. “It’s  gotta have a spark of your  clubs goals.”

“I wouldn’t have any idea how to put that into a picture.” Haru insisted.

“Let’s start with the basics.” The guy leaned back. “You said your name was Haru? I’m Thomas.  So this is for your swim club right? And you swim in water. How can we make this poster about the water?”

“You can make it blue.” Haru stated simply.

Jules smiled.

Thomas chuckled but he wasn’t giving up. “Okay. Let’s start with that.” He went to the shelf and grabbed a large piece of blue construction paper and clipped it up. “Blue. Still boring. Now what?”

“I don’t know.” Haru stated, his brow pinching a little. “You could give it ripples or something...”

“Okay but you love swimming yes?” He asked.

Haru nodded.

“Cause you love water.” He inferred.

Again Haru nodded.

“Okay good. Let’s keep going. What makes  _ you _ love the water?”

“It feels nice.” Haru answered.

He sighed. “Okay. Let’s take that feeling... and visualize it.”

Haru tipped his head, seemingly growing more frustrated by the moment. “It’s a feeling... so how do you visualize it?”

“What is the feeling, Haru?”

“Free.” Haru answered simply.

Thomas groaned and fell back into his seat. “I can see why you’re not an artist.” He tapped his pen to his lips.

Jules smiled and turned to Haru. “Do you remember the relay when we were kids? That sight you’d never seen before. The one Rin showed you?”

Haru’s eyes slowly widened.

“Was it beautiful?” Jules asked.

Haru nodded his head. “It was a rush... it made me feel...alive.”

Thomas whirled in his chair. “Okay there we go. You felt alive. How can we bring this water poster to life? How can we make it beautiful?”

Haru blinked several times before he nervously asked, “Can I... borrow a pencil and paper?”

Thomas nodded.

Jules watched the paper that Haru started to draw on for a bit, but after a time of not being able to tell what it  was he was drawing, her gaze shifted to his face. His expression was so soft but focused. Those blue eyes could see the picture clearly that he wanted to create. And he stuck his tongue out a bit in the cutest way. Her heart was racing in her chest.

He was always so laid back that it was unusual to see him in such a way – with such determination. But she enjoyed it. She enjoyed everything about him. 

If she could have, she would have leaned on his arm and cozied up to him to watch, but she didn’t want to mess up his beautiful picture.

Soon, the image became  more clear to her. The long slender body, the curve of the fin, the angle of the shoulders and the beautiful hair that swept down her back. She didn’t realize it but all of the other art students were now hovering behind his back, gazing at the beautiful picture in front of them.

Jules couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

Thomas asked, “Is that a mermaid?”

Haru nodded. “Yeah. It’s what I first think of when I think freedom and beautiful mixed with the water.”

“Your art is amazing. That will absolutely draw  peoples attention. We’ll use that and you can rely on us to design it in a way that will get across everything you need.” Thomas insisted.

Haru smiled at him. “Thank you. I -  “ He stopped and his brows furrowed. “Jules?”

Jules shifted suddenly in her seat and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re crying. Are you okay?”

She was confused by his words so she reached up and touched her cheeks.  Sure enough there was warm water rushing down both of them and her breathing caught in her throat. She quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “Y-yeah, sorry I just got something in my eyes. I’m going to go wash them out.”

Jules looked up at herself in the mirror after splashing water all over her face and shaking herself free from the whirlwind of thoughts going through her mind. His art was so beautiful but... she couldn’t help seeing herself in that amazing picture. But that was selfish and bizarre.

Yet... her reflection wouldn’t stop smiling at her in that happiest, giddiest way.

Wiping her face back off, she headed back for the art room but stopped just outside of it when she heard Thomas say Haru’s name.

“Can I ask you something weird? Just between you and me.”

“Yeah, sure.” Haru timidly answered.

“The mermaid in your drawing... looks a lot like that girl that’s with you, Jules. Doesn’t it?”

There was a long pause before Haru gently hummed. “Yeah. I guess it does. I couldn’t help myself though.  It’s cause of her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Haru answered. “The first time we met was on the shore after she almost drowned. We were just kids back then. At  first we didn’t get along at all. In  fact ... we were actually really mean to each other... but then we finally started to get to know each other... and we spent a lot of time in the water together. She was always saying whatever was on her mind... and doing downright whatever she wanted to do. It was so annoying a lot of times. But...she’s what I think of... when I think of free.”

Juli’s eyes slowly widened.

Thomas squealed. “That is the  _ sweetest _ thing I’ve ever heard. You guys are an adorable couple.”

Haru grumbled at him, “We’re not a couple. We’re best friends.”

“What so you don’t have any crush on her? No desire to date or anything?”

Haru seemed even more baffled at  this.  “ Of course I do. The plan is to eventually get married but not right now or anything.”

He gasped again and fake swooned. “You’re ridiculous. Of course you’re a couple then!”

Haru glared. “No, we’re  _ not _ . The second she learns that we’re a couple her...  _ habits _ are going to get worse than they already are.”

“Habits?” Thomas repeated.

“Nothing. I don’t  wanna talk about it.” Haru growled, returning to his art.

Jules couldn’t help the inward giggle to herself. She knew exactly what Haru meant – her habit to try and get the both of them into sexually explicit situations.

But her gaze softened as his words rang through her head.  _ She’s what I think of when I think free _ .

“I think these turned out really great.”  Juli stated as she stacked the new posters up nice and neat next to their bags. “Nagisa and Makoto are going to be so impressed.”

Haru yawned and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah but it required us staying so late at school...”

Juli danced over and wrapped her arms around his muscular torso and brought her chin to rest on his chest. Beaming up at him, she cooed, “Hey, Haru~”

Haru stiffened and glared down at her in a defeated way. “Alright, what’s your request this time? I’m so tired... if it’s not difficult I might say yes.”

Juli giggled, knowing he was expecting her to ask him to take his clothes off or her take hers off or whatever, but instead, she took his hands and walked backwards with him to the bedroom. “Do you think mermaids are real?”

He blinked. “Oh. I. ..don’t know. I guess it’s possible. We don’t actually know a lot about the ocean.”

“What... would you do if you met one?” She asked.

Haru looked up as he thought. “I’m not sure. I’d probably ask a ton of questions and -  “ He paused and then glared at her. “This isn’t a trick question where you’re going to end up getting pissed off at me for talking about another girl, are you?”

Juli laughed out loud. “No  no , this is a free-bee. Do you think... you’d befriend them?”

Haru gave her a confused look. “Of course I would. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Cause... mermaids are weird and unusual?”

Haru sighed and mussed her hair. “There’s nothing  more weird and usual than you... and... I like you so...does that answer your question?”

Jules blushed. “Yeah.” She pushed the door open. “Let’s go to bed.”

Haru gave her a suspicious look. “No inappriopriate request tonight?”

She grinned. “If I give you a night off, does that mean I can get something extra special tomorrow?”

Haru smirked. “No.”


	8. Empty

“Our club is now official!” Nagisa shouted happily. “We got a teacher to represent us – Ms.  Amakata . And the four of us means we have just enough people to be a club. We’re all set, isn’t that great?”

Haruka nodded his head as he ate his lunch. The four of them were sitting on the roof as usual.

Makoto grumbled at Nagisa. “You’re missing a big point though, Nagisa. Don’t pretend it’s not there.”

“What’s that?” He asked in confusion.

Makoto sighed.

The four of them stood at the edge of the school pool. Or... what was left of it. The entire fenced in area was covered in vines, grass, weeds, and the pool itself was broken and cracked. It needed a lot of work.

Makoto chuckled. “So... we have to get this repaired and useable again before we even think about doing anything with the club. Can’t have a swim team with no pool.”

“So... we have to repair it?” Haru asked.

“Yep.” Nagisa sang.

Jules frowned at this. “How do we?”

Makoto fanned a hand. “Well we have to start by cleaning it out and then we’ll need to go get patches to fix it where it’s broken.”

Haru frowned. “I guess there’s no choice then.”

Before long, all of them had rolled up their sleeves and were getting down and dirty to pull all the weeds and clean the area up. Jules couldn’t help herself from taking breaks though to admire the look of determination on Haru’s face. With his sleeves rolled up, there were little patches of dirt on his skin but it was shimmering with just the tease of sweat.

He was so unbelievably attractive without even trying.

She walked around with the trash bag and scooped up what they were pulling out to be thrown away. Once she collected all of it, she returned to  Haru’s side and handed him a water bottle. “Need a drink?”

Haru told her, “I’m okay, thanks.”

She smiled at him and purred, “I’m all for you getting dirty, but this isn’t what I had in mind. Take a break and I can clean you up  real quick.”

He huffed at her. “That makes me not wanna take a break.”

She whined, “So mean. I’m just trying to flirt. It’s your fault for being so unnaturally sexy.”

He glared more, but took the water bottle and took a drink. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

It was her turn to huff. “That’s a joke right?”

He glared. “Do I look like I'm joking?”

She groaned and flopped over on his back, earning a grunt from him. He glared at her over his shoulder. “I’m also not your chair.”

She looped her arms around him. “But you’re so comfy...”

“Hey love birds!” Nagisa shouted, waving his hand. “We  gotta run to the store to get patches now. Let’s go!”

Before she knew it, they were pulling up to a store that had signs everywhere for “ Iwatobi Dolphins”. The teacher that drove them was the Ms.  Amakata that Nagisa spoke of. She had brown curly hair and a gentle expression. Like the other people she knew, she was a very kind person.

Juli slid out of the backseat with Haru and looked up at the building. “This one... looks different than walmart.”

Makoto frowned at her. “That’s  cause this is a hardware store. For supplies for the pool. Do you... really not know what that is?”

Juli blinked, unsure how to respond.

Haru interjected, “Private school remember? She didn’t get out much.”

Nagisa squealed. “ So you’ve really never been to one!?”

“Maybe I did when I was younger...” She mumbled but Nagisa was already pushing on her shoulders, edging her into the store.

Haru raised his hand to stop them, but Makoto chuckled and told him, “Don’t worry, Haru. I think Nagisa has this under control.”

He looked away.

Without even asking, Nagisa began explaining so many things to her that it had her head spinning. Whenever they were selecting an item or a tool to purchase, Nagisa would tell her what it was and why they needed it. Whenever he rambled on about something that wasn’t making sense, Makoto stepped in and helped her out. 

He was much better at explaining things.

They were walking down an aisle at one point when Jules happened to look over and see Haru unbuttoning his shirt. She gasped and rushed over to him and saw what the culprit was. A large fish tank filled with water was on display and he was stripping down to his swimsuit to get in it. Bracing her hands on the opposite edge, she leaned forward and hissed, “ Haruka ! What are you doing!? Even I know this isn’t allowed!”

Haru glared up at her. “I want to swim.”

“You can’t swim in a fish tank!”

“I can try.” He continued to undo his belt.

She caught his hands and seethed, “ Haruka ! If you won’t strip for me at home, you can’t strip here in public for this tank!”

He grumbled at her but looked away. “That’s different.”

Jules pouted and then stood back with her arms crossed. “Is it? Take off your clothes and get in that fish tank and I’m going to do the same.”

His eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She put her hand on her top button and undid it. “Try me.”

Haru continued to stare her down.

Makoto rounded a corner and gasped, “What are you two doing!?” He scolded both of them. “Don’t take your clothes off here!”

Juli coyly stated, “That’s up to Haru.”

Makoto turned to him.

Haru sighed and finally – reluctantly – started fixing his clothes. “Fine. Let’s finish shopping.”

“Hey Haru... can I ask you something?” Jules asked as she lay upside down across his bed. Her head was leaned back over the edge with her black hair sweeping down across the floor.

He had just changed into his sweats and was pulling his shirt over his long, lean torso as he answered, “What’s up?”

“You seem... really excited about this swim club thing.”  Juli stated. “And I know that a huge perk of it is that you can swim in a pool again, but...Makoto made it sound like you’d normally turn this kind of thing down. Is the change because...Rin showed back up?”

Haru paused in making his way back to the bed and looked out the window into the dark sky. “Oh, that’s what you  wanna talk about.”

She quickly rolled over and sat up. “Haru?”

He sighed and dropped down on the bed next to her. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

She leaned against his arm and asked, “What happened to you two? You guys... as kids during that relay... you were incredible. And you were all so happy. Even you, despite not smiling. So why... did you guys not stay in touch? Did something happen after?”

“No. Nothing.” He replied.

Juli glared at him. “You’re a bad liar, Haru.”

He looked up at her. “If I kiss you will you forget the question?”

Her gaze softened. “I’ll accept the kiss but I still want an answer.”

“Rin came back once after that.” Haru answered. “We ran into each other and decided to have a race. I didn’t think anything of it. I won. But after... when I went to take his hand... he threw his goggles down and said that he was quitting swimming.” His blue eyes trembled with emotion. “Because of me... he gave up swimming. So how could I...? What right did I have to swim competitively anymore?”

Her eyes widened and she gently reached up and cupped his cheek, turning his head so he was facing her. She brought their foreheads together. His skin was warm and soft against hers which was hot like the evening sun. His breath was trembling as it fell on her lips. She knew that he was crying on the inside and she wanted desperately to take all his pain away. She’d bear it herself if it was within her power.

As their noses brushed, she whispered, “You can’t make a decision like that for him. You aren’t responsible for that. Besides... you saw him in your race. He clearly didn’t quit. Don’t... burden yourself with those thoughts.”

He whispered back, “But I caused him to think that. And from the way he has been treating us... it’s clear that...he blames me, too. I know you want to convince me otherwise, but I can see it. I can see the pain that I caused.”

“Haru - “

He reached up and placed his hand on top of hers. “ Juli ... don’t stress yourself out over it, okay? It’s in the past. My mind can’t be changed. Not after all this time.” Pulling away, he leaned up and kissed her forehead before crawling around her and laying down in bed. “Let’s go to sleep.”

Juli couldn’t sleep at all. As the moon shone in through the window, it cast a blue glow over the two of them. Haru was laying on his side, facing her. His soft face halfway buried in the pillow. She sat beside his sleeping form, gazing down at him. She reached out and gently brushed her fingers through his hair. His hair was always so soft – a benefit of taking baths nonstop.

A sigh left her lips as her crimson gaze shimmered. “ Haruka ...” She leaned down and kissed his temple. “I love you...” She climbed out of bed and then walked through the house until she came to a stop at the front window. His house sat at the very top of the hill and so over the landscape of rooftops, the ocean could be seen passed them.

Her gaze softened as she looked at the white-blue light shimmering with the tide. Her chest tightened and her throat grew hoarse. “Would things be any different if I stayed? Could I have helped him? Would he be happier? Or... would I have just added to his problems?”

She closed her eyes tightly.

_ You will never belong anywhere. _

_ Why can’t you just leave!? _

A single tear ran down her cheek. “Who am I kidding? I’m just a problem wherever I am...”

“Juli?”

Juli’s eyes widened and she looked over her shoulder at Haru who was standing wide-eyed in front of the steps. “Haru... s-sorry. I - “

She gasped when he took her hand and pulled her back to him, wrapping his arms around her. He pressed his face to her hair and asked, “Why are you crying?”

She looked down. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I just... couldn’t sleep. I feel like... you’ve been struggling for so long and I... haven’t been here to help you. And. ..even though I’m here...I...”

He squeezed her tightly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. You’re not responsible for any of  it and... just as you told me... you can’t blame yourself for things you can’t control.” He gripped her shirt softly as he added, “But... I’m not very good at...expressing me feelings. But... with my parents always gone... the house is always quiet and lonely. Having you here... knowing you’ll be at my side at all times... it... makes me happy.  So when I woke up a minute ago... and you weren’t in bed...I had this... horrifying thought that...you were gone again.”

Juli’s eyes widened before softening and her face flushed. “Didn’t you tell me that  _ I _ need to learn to stay away for more than five minutes?”

He pulled back enough to give her a coy smirk. “I didn’t say I had to, too.”

She smiled back.

He pulled her back in. “Let’s go to back to bed. No more sad talk for a while.”

She grinned, “I know what we can do instead of talking.”

Haru groaned. “We’re not doing  _ that _ .”

Not too long later, the pool was totally cleaned and remodeled, ready to be filled back up.


	9. Carving

The next challenge to building their swim club was the fact that there were no new recruits coming in. The posters had been up for a week, but no one showed up to the club room, asking to join.

In between a couple classes,  Juli stood with Haru and Makoto outside their lockers. Makoto had his arms crossed as he was thinking hard and asked, “What else can we do to lure people in? I mean, those posters were amazing and I hear people talk about them all the time! But...no one talks about joining the swim club cause of them.”

Haru frowned, “Is it because we didn’t portray the message enough?”

Juli glared at Haru, “Did you repeat that from Thomas? Are you still talking to him?”

Haru shrugged. “We have a class together. He talks to me.”

Makoto chuckled. “Who is that, a friend from the art club?”

“Yeah.”  Juli answered. “For some reason he’s infatuated with Haru since he drew that mermaid and if he gets any more stalkerish, I’m  gonna have to set some boundaries.”

Haru plainly interjected, “He’s fine, you’re just too possessive.”

“ Of course I am!” Juli shouted.

Makoto laughed more. “Either way, the posters aren’t enough alone. We need something else to help us out.”

Haru suggested, “I’ll text Nagisa to meet and we can brainstorm after school.”

“Your place?” Mako asked.

Haru pouted and glared at Jules who was already nodding. “Why my place?”

“The twins are at mine.” Mako answered.

Haru groaned as the y separated to go their own ways.  Juli was following Haru at a distance when a hand wrapped around her arm and yanked her back. She gasped and started to shout something when  Ausa covered her  mouth  and turned her around. Now  Juli’s back was pressed up against the  girls torso who was pointing after Makoto. “Who is that and how do you know him?”

Juli blinked, trying to straighten out her thoughts. “Makoto? He’s Haru’s friend – I've known them both a long time. Why?”

Ausa blushed and stepped back. “N-No reason. Just... asking.”

She arched a brow at the other black-haired girl. “Yeah whatever. Spill it.”

With  flushed cheeks, she nervously explained, “He just... has really pretty eyes is all. And. ..he’s tall and handsome...”

“ Ohhh .”  Juli giggled. “ So you’ve got a little crush on Makoto, huh?”

She gasped and covered her mouth. “Shut your stupid mouth, don’t say that so loud!” Stepping back, she crossed her arms and huffed, “Besides, I don’t actually know him. I can’t crush on him if I don’t know him. I just think he looks attractive.”

“Yeah... alright. I’ll let him know.” She started to walk off when Ausa yanked her back.

“Excuse me, what? You will not!”  Ausa yelled.

“Why?” Juli asked.

“Cause... I don’t want him to know!” She growled, but she quickly turned away. “Just forget I said anything, okay?”

“Hm. ..he’s in the swim club.” Juli stated.

Ausa paused before slowly turning and looking at her over her shoulder.

Jules set a tray of food down next to Haru who was sitting at the table working hard. The evening before the whole crew had come over and discussed how to recruit more people. They’d ended up deciding on making mascots of  Iwatobi – the school’s mascot. It was a little bird with a boulder head. Unfortunately, Haru appeared to be the only one who had any talent for making them so he’d taken the task upon himself. He did it so diligently though. Every time she saw him now, he was whittling away at wood, making more charms.

Jules looked at her phone and her gaze softened. She’d snagged one to keep on her phone. If it was made by his hands, she wanted it to herself.

She leaned around him and looked down into the box full of the little mascots he was working on. He had already gotten so far. Resting her hands gently on his back, she commented, “You’re really talented at art type stuff, you know that, Haru?”

He didn’t even look up from his current project. “I guess.”

Grumbling, she leaned more on his back. “Why do you always disregard my compliments?”

“What else am I supposed to do with them?” He asked, putting away his newly finished work and beginning on the next.

With a heavy sigh, she crawled around until she was sitting next to him. “Can I help?”

Once again without looking up, he handed her a block of wood and a knife so she could work, too. A gentle laugh left her lips before she accepted her punishment and started to whittle as well.

After a time, she commented, “You haven’t changed at all, Haru. You’re still a  one track mind, indifferent to everything, and obsessed with swimming. It’s a relief, to be honest.”

After a couple moments, she didn’t think he was even going to reply until he finally did. “You changed a lot.”

Her eyes widened a bit and she gasped when the knife slipped and cut her finger. Out of pure reaction, she raised it to her lips and sucked on the cut as it bled. For the first time Haru put down the little  Iwatobi trinket and took her hand, bringing it to him as he inspected the cut. “You got it pretty good. Here, let’s clean it out.”

Taking her hand, he helped her up and walked into the bathroom where he made her hold her finger under the water as he got down the first aid kit. Unable to look at him, she asked, “Is it... a bad thing that I’ve changed?”

“No.” He answered, removing her hand from the water and beginning to tend to the cut on the end of her finger. “I think you’re easier to understand. At least... you’re obsessed with only me, so keeping that in mind, I feel like I get the things you do. But...you seem... more mature. When we were kids... you acted really spoiled, like the world owed you everything.”

Jules puffed her cheeks. “Don’t sugarcoat it or anything.”

“But now... it feels like you’re trying to earn everything you get. I like that.” Haru stated and then added, “Then of course... you came back a lot pervier.”

Juli laughed. “That’s your fault.”

He glared at her. “How?”

“I wasn’t expecting the boy I grew up with to turn into such a man. I can’t help that it brings my woman-parts to life.” She leaned into him and purred. “I can show you what I mean. All you have to do is – ow!” She pouted when he gently pinched her finger near her cut before he put the  bandaid on. “You  coulda just said no...”

He sighed, but there was a smile on his lips. “I like you as you are,  Juli . And I’ll still like you even if you change again.”

She smiled and tipped her head. “Let’s get back in there and make some more mascots so you can get to swimming in a pool.”

“I think you should just worry about supervising. You clearly can’t handle a knife.”

“W-well show me how to do it right.” She demanded softly. “I  wanna help...”

His expression warmed before he nodded. “Okay.” Sitting back down at the table, he patted his lap. When she stood there in confusion for a moment, he reached up, cupping her hips, and pulled her down into his lap. Her back was flush with his chest and his arms reached around her waist and to the knife and wood in front of her. He placed them in her hands before putting his own hands on top of hers.

Juli felt all of the oxygen leave her lungs. Sitting like this, she felt like his existence was all around her. His arms reached down the length of her own and every movement she could feel the flexion of his muscles against her own body.

His warm words fell against her sensitive ear as he spoke through what she should be doing and how to be more careful. He was so tender and sincere and at the same time he held her so close that it made her feel untouchable.

After finishing one, he started to lift her out of his lap, but instead, she caught his arm and asked, “Can we... just... make them like this tonight? You can just guide my hands.”

His gaze softened. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

“I just want to be close to you.” She insisted.

He nodded his head and kissed her cheek lovingly. “I know.”


End file.
